Workers in Ekiti civil service observed Friday, April 17 as a work-free day to pray for peace in their state. The workers, under the aegis of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiating Council (NJC) also declared a six-hour lockdown for public transport.
Commercial vehicles and motorcycles were off the roads between 6am and 12 noon.
The previous day, the workers staged a peaceful protest at the Fajuyi Park Resort in Ado Ekiti, against the plot to impeach Governor Ayodele Fayose by the outgoing 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) members of the state Assembly.
State NLC Chairman, Ayodeji Aluko, who spoke at the rally on behalf of the three unions, warned politicians against throwing the state into chaos.
“Ekiti people are naturally peace loving and hospitable. Ekiti people are distinguished by self-pride, integrity and hard work.
“But all these values are fast being eroded because of the desperation and egocentric desire of some politicians who see politics as a viable means of wealth acquisition,” Aluko lamented.
The workers protested the same day a Federal High Court in Abuja declined for the second time request by Fayose to stop the impeachment proceedings initiated against him and his Deputy, Kolapo Olusola, by lawmakers led by Speaker Adewale Omirin.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed had rejected the request on April 8, when Fayose first filed an ex parte application to restrain the lawmakers from sacking him.
These debilitating political maneuverings came three days after the Supreme Court gave what ought to be a political lifeline to Fayose by affirming his election in the June 21, 2014 governorship poll.
The Supreme Court in a unanimous judgment dismissed the appeal brought by the APC against the concurrent judgments of the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal and Court of Appeal, describing the appeal as “lacking in merit.”
The lead judgment delivered by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta held that the impeachment of Fayose in 2006 was not a ground for his disqualification for the governorship race in 2014, particularly when the impeachment panel was an “unconstitutional body” having been appointed by an acting chief judge who was “unconstitutionally appointed.”
The court also said even if Fayose was assumed to be legally impeached, he was supposed to have been referred to a court of competent jurisdiction or Code of Conduct Tribunal for conviction based on the indictment that he was involved in a N1.3 billion fraud case, among others.
Ekiti State has been embroiled in avoidable political crisis since the rambunctious Fayose staged a dramatic political comeback nine years after he was impeached by members of his own political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), one of the shenanigans foisted on the country by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Fayose, a political godson of Obasanjo, who governed Ekiti from May 29, 2003 to October 16, 2006, fell out with him when he allegedly refused to abide by the one-term pact he had with Obasanjo who ruled Nigeria as if the whole country was a mere extension of his Ota Farm.
As alluded to by the Supreme Court, Obasanjo broke all rules and impeachment protocols by inducing lawmakers to illegally impeach governors, including Fayose.
But despite his political travails, Fayose remained extremely popular among the masses. So, when the PDP nominated him for the governorship poll last year it was obvious that the APC, which was ruling the state, would get a good run for its money.
And Fayose gave a fight and won, polling 203,090 votes to defeat other candidates. It was an emphatic victory. APC candidate and incumbent Governor Kayode Fayemi, got 120,433 votes. Fayose won in all the 16 local government areas of the state and scored 57.9 per cent of the total votes.
But it was obvious also that despite this unequivocal victory, his traducers, their egos having been bruised, were not going to concede easily. So, the APC went to the tribunal to challenge Fayose’s victory on the ground of non-eligibility following his purported indictment and impeachment even though Fayemi conceded defeat.
The tribunal dismissed the suit. Not satisfied, the APC went to the Court of Appeal which also dismissed the case. The party approached the Supreme Court.
But even before the APC went to the Supreme Court, the lawmakers had set out to frustrate Fayose. They would neither approve his commissioners nor look at the budget.
Fayose, a street fighter himself and grandmaster of “roforofo” battle, fought back the only way he knew – brusquely. Having succeeded in wooing seven of the 26 lawmakers to join the PDP, he used the minority to sack the majority 19 members, including the de facto and de jure Speaker, Omirin.
And the seven-man Assembly, a far cry from the two-thirds constitutional majority, impeached legitimate speaker and approved Fayose’s commissioners and budget.
These are all illegalities for which the 19 lawmakers are now seeking to impeach him.
The Ekiti debacle has become the egg and chicken debate. Who drew the first blood?
Granted, it was wrong for Fayose to use the minority in sacking the majority but what choice has he? Should he have waited to be sacked by the APC lawmakers?
The APC is not standing on any moral high ground here and will only throw Ekiti into avoidable political crisis if it insists on carrying out vendetta.
It is understandable if some politicians in the South West cannot stand Fayose. He is too loud and combative. He is possibly crude. But he is a grassroots politician with unmatched charisma and is currently the most potent political force in Ekiti.
Fayose is to Ekiti State politically, what Buhari is to the core North and Tinubu to South West minus Ekiti. Therefore, it is hypocritical to celebrate Tinubu and Buhari’s political accomplishments and diminish Fayose’s.
And in a bid not to leave anyone in doubt of who calls the political shots in Ekiti, Fayose ensured that President Goodluck Jonathan carried the state in the presidential poll.
Jonathan won in all the 16 councils, as Fayose did in the governorship, scoring 176,474 votes to defeat Muhammadu Buhari who polled 120,332 votes. PDP candidates also won all the three senatorial seats and six House of Representatives seats.
It was because of this emphatic victory that the 19 lawmakers, who sensed that they may be defeated in the House of Assembly poll, initiated the move to impeach Fayose.
Their worst fears came to pass when the PDP won 25 out of 26 seats in the Assembly, leaving only one seat for the Labour Party. All the 19 APC lawmakers who want to sack Fayose lost. So, they are being smart by half. All they are trying to do is gain power through the back door.
They have also shown their hand by including the deputy governor in the impeachment saga. So, in the very unlikely event that the impeachment sails through, the idea would be for Omirin, the Speaker, to assume the governorship of the state.
That will be a recipe for crisis. Ekiti does not need this continued political upheaval.
Democracy is nothing other than the dictatorship of the majority. Today, Fayose commands the critical majority in Ekiti politics. The very vocal minority can always have their say, but it will be preposterous for them to think that they can stampede the man out of office as they did in 2006 without dire consequences.
Regardless of his faults, and they are many, the majority of Ekiti people have decided, for whatever reason(s), to cast their political lot with him. That is the beauty of democracy.
The people have spoken, not once but thrice. The courts of the land up to the Supreme Court, have also spoken. Nineteen lawmakers, who have lost the mandate of the people, cannot say otherwise even if they are goaded by the “brightest” in Yorubaland.
The APC and those who don’t love Fayose should let Ekiti be.
